Family Bonds
by insertedgynamehere
Summary: Lily and James Potter might be dead, but Harry's family is far from gone. One shot, exploring the trio's familial feelings for one another.


Harry had never had a brother (obviously), but if he did, he imagined that he would be a lot like Ron Weasley.

Example; the week after the Chamber of Secrets incident, he nearly lost Gryffindor the House Cup he punched Malfoy that hard. It was one of those rare occasions where the two weren't side by side taking on the world and all Harry knew was that the words _blood traitor_ and _Ginny_ were mentioned in the same sentence.

It was a bloody good job it was Professor Sprout that caught him instead of McGonagall or Snape. As it was, Ron was given a detention night.

( _Bloody worth it mate, you should of seen the look on the blond prats face when I caught him)._

Example number two; often times the pair participated in games of Wizard Chess or Exploding Snap late at night, when neither he nor Ginny had any hope of falling asleep. Instead of allowing Ginny to brood or sink into depression, Ron distracted her by rather loudly walloping Harry all over the place in Chess and rather than allowing Harry to wallow in guilt ( _Honestly, he should have noticed something was up)_ , he forced him into noisy games of Exploding Snap. Sleep was often forsaken between all three of them, only for Ron, exhaustion was a choice he made on behalf of his friends.

Harry could go on but he wouldn't.

He had also never really had a sister before ( _duh)_ but if he did, he suspected she would be a lot like Hermione.

Example; the instant she noticed Harry drifting off in the common room, falling to sleep for the first time in days, she had gently pushed him back into the cosy Gryffindor couches despite his sleepy protests. When he awoke later on in the night, from a pleasantly dreamless sleep he found his head propped up on a pillow nicked from his bed and Hermione on the couch opposite him, legs curled up and seemingly rereading Hogwarts:A History for the hundredth time. She said nothing to him as he picked himself up and dragged himself upstairs to bed, responding to his bleary 'Night 'Mione' with a small smile.

Example number two; in the weeks following the Chamber incident, he saw her give Ginny kind smiles where others gave her cold looks-welcoming arms around the shoulder whilst others shunned her for her contact with Tom Riddle. It was at her prompting that he went over to Ginny and offered to play Exploding Snap with her when she got out of the hospital wing.

( _Go on Harry, your the only other one in this room who has an idea what she's going through)_

It was hard to ignore her advice when he received shy, happy smiles in place of awed, worshipping looks. He had a feeling she had caught him and Ron constantly checking over their shoulder to make sure Ginny was alright.

But most of all, Harry had never felt like he had a _family_ before. How wrong he had been.

Ron was like a brother to him, in all his unwavering loyalty, never faltering courage and simple humanity. His loud chess matches and violent actions towards the Slytherins made him laugh where he thought he would never do so again.

Hermione was like a sister to him, her endless intelligence ( _regarding bot_ _h the academics and her friends themselves)_ and straightforward kindness making him feel warm during times of unflinching cold, allowing him to just _be_ when he needed a quiet moment away from the world and the heavy weight thrust upon him, as if he was Atlas the indomitable Titan.

So when, a few years later, Lord Voldemort returned and Sirius was forced to leave his side once more, when his childhood innocence was once more thrust out from under him like a rug, Ron visited with a chess set and Hermione sat beside him, holding a book and quietly talking to him when the pain in his scar almost became suffocating, he made a vow to himself.

 _I will die before he takes my family away from me a second time._

* * *

Ron knew rather well what is was like to have a brother ( _obviously)_ and despite his many complaints about the ones he already had, when he met Harry Potter and became his best friend, he ungrudgingly accepted another into his already crowded family. _Love makes the world go round_ his mother said fondly once, whilst looking at his dad and Ron figured this kid who had lost everything deserved to gain a little something for his efforts.

Of course he never forgot his other brotherly duties. The second he had heard Malfoy behind him sniggering ( _I wonder if that blood traitor will ever be sane again. Perhaps it would be better off for her family if she wasn't-they might be able to get some much needed gold if she was shipped off like the freak she is)_ , he dropped his bag, pulled his fist back and promptly buried it straight into a very shocked face.

Harry had roared with laughter for ages when he told him and even Ginny managed a smile. The twins had clapped him on the back, wiping imaginary tears away as they told him much he had grown up and how proud they were of ickle Ronniekins. If punching a prat like Malfoy made his family happy, Ron would be perfectly content to receive a detention.

When _he_ came back two years later and his brother came back broken and beaten, Ron was quick to his side. When Sirius left, when Dumbledore was gone, he made damned sure he was there for his brother or, at the least, Hermione was. When that haunted, faraway look appeared in Harry's eyes he was quick to conjure up a chess set or , seemingly out of nowhere, pull out just a few more sweets. He was quick to remind his brother that his family was still here for him, no matter what.

 _Let the snake obsessed bastard come_ , he had snarled loudly one day, startling Hermione and pulling Harry out of his reverie, _I'll punch him just as hard as I did Malfoy._ This had quickly devolved into creative methods to hurt 'The Noseless Lord' as Ron so fondly named him after Harry's recollection of the night and that haunted look in his brothers eyes disappeared for a few moments as he laughed.

Yes Ron had quite enough brothers as it was thank you very much. However, when a friend was in need of a warm hearth and a caring family, Ron was the first to remind him that he was a _brother_ just as much as Fred and George were to him.

* * *

Hermione, like Harry, had no brothers or sisters. If she did, she'd suspect that Harry would very much be like her brother. Smart in his own right, witty and always up for a fight to protect those he loved, Hermione was damn proud to call Harry Potter family.

When he had first seen her after the Chamber incident, he had hugged her tightly, so tightly the breath almost left her lungs and she realised _he had been scared for her._ This boy, who had faced down his parents murderer twice now, killed a giant Basilisk and lived to tell the tale,was worried about _her_.

She had always liked Harry, but it was then she resolved to look after him like a sister would a brother and, as Ron tackled her in a huge bear hug that really did knock the breath out of her lungs, she noticed the way he looked at lonely Ginny Weasley with understanding and sadness in his eyes.

You see, the thing about Harry was, she had discovered, is that he was _ridiculously_ compassionate, especially when it came to others suffering. Where Ron was loud and humorous to help keep other's pain at bay ( _He had done the same with her when she had woke up, gasping in a cold sweat, from a nightmare consisting of petrifying yellow eyes)_ , Hermione could see that Harry wanted to talk about it, to give himself and others closure of the demons that haunted their night hours. He simply lacked the words or the confidence.

So, it was with a kind smile and a soft push she had pushed her brother to Ginny Weasley. She had pretended not to, but she had seen his looks of concern when he gazed at her, the quiet blush that seemed to stain both their cheeks when Harry was caught looking.

When You-Know-Who had came back, and with him a shattered Harry, Hermione made sure she was there for her brother. When Sirius was unable to stay, when Dumbledore and the Weasleys had no choice but to leave, she stayed by him, offering him a quiet solace away from the weight of the world and passed him books to read to keep his whirring, intelligent mind away from the subject of _him_ and the guilt associated with it. Just as she had gently pushed him towards Ginny when she needed someone to talk to, she did the same with Ginny, giving her a gentle push out from Harry's borrowed invisibility cloak ( _Just some light reading Harry, honest)._

Although he never mentioned it, she knew that he knew. He looked slightly better the next day however and decidedly didn't care, if the result was his slow yet sure healing.

They were a family these three. They watched out for another in the little ways, and in many ways, possessed a far stronger bond than any blood or magic in the world.

It was no wonder Harry wasn't a broken mess; his family simply wouldn't allow it.

* * *

 _ **A/N-wrote this when I couldn't sleep. If anyone spots any typos please point them out. Constructive criticism welcome as always!**_


End file.
